How Ethnicity, gender and culture are linked with aging - Essay Example

Running head: How Ethni gender and culture are linked with aging How Ethni gender and culture are linked with aging Research Question/Problem Many people have sought to understand the relationship between ethnicity, gender and culture, and how each affect aging. While some people assert there is a direct link, others tend to disagree, state that these are independent variables which do not have a relationship between them. David (2006), in an article titled ‘Learning to Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging’ clearly illustrates the link between ethnicity, gender, culture and aging.

The article presents a compilation of existing literature pertaining to this issue, which has been extensively discussed from the perspectives of various authors. Methodology The study took a cross sectional approach in which people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were examined. In addition, these people were from different physical localities and from both genders. This choice of methodology proved to be the most effective as it fairly represented all the variables needed in the study.

However, the methodology failed to specify the size of the sample population, which made it hard to determine whether the result fairly embodied the whole research population. Equally, there was a lot of accentuation on the lives of the elderly, neglecting the relationship between ethnicity, gender and culture when people are at a younger age. Much of the data used was collected through observation although in some cases, the researcher had to draw from previous research studies.Results The results obtained indicated that there was a link between ethnicity, gender, culture and aging.

The researcher clearly demonstrated how each variable such as ethnicity, gender and culture influenced the way people age. Cultural myths such as the fear of getting old and social responsibility among different social settings, largely affected how people grew old. On ethnicity, the socio-political perception by different communities determined how their people age. People believe that minority communities age faster than the rest, because they have a lower socio-economic status. Gender also plays a major role in aging.

This is due to social-economic responsibility vested upon the two sexes.Although there were links among the variables, the research failed to show how other factors such as domestic conditions contributed to aging. This is because some of the factors that contribute to aging, although associated to the variables, are hard to quantify. In addition, gender results were consistent whether they were obtained from areas where women have equal rights with men, or from those where women are deemed as inferior.

Equally, there were a number of limitations encountered during the study. The major drawback was the unprecedented social change whereby women from some communities called for equality.DiscussionThere was an intensive discussion on the role of each variable on aging. On culture, communities which hold the belief that the elderly would be a burden to the society impacted fear to those getting old. This had a direct relationship in the way they age. Likewise, sickness and the way communities handle the sick is a major determinant on aging.

In communities where the old live in elderly homes, such people are bound to grow old as they lack family love. On gender, women have different roles to those of men and that determines how they age. Although there is no scientific proof to determine which sex ages faster than the other, those who engage in more strenuous tasks than the rest are believed to age faster. Lastly, ethnicity contributes to aging, as the society believes some ethnic groups age faster than others.Two major suggestions were made that would assist communities to deal with aging.

The first was to adopt healthy lifestyles, which involves a healthy diet, exercise and living in a clean environment. This would also reduce the chances of getting diseases, which largely contribute to aging. The other recommendation was to eradicate poverty as it had a direct correlation with aging. In view of this, ethnic communities that have a low socio-economic status tend to age faster. ReferencesDavid, P. (2006). Learning to Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging. Canadian Journal on Aging , 25 (1), 119-121.